Transcript Click to edit Master title style Smarter Assessment PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR THE REAL WORLD DelExcels.org April 1, 2015

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Smarter Assessment
PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR THE REAL WORLD
DelExcels.org
April 1, 2015
WHAT IS SMARTER ASSESSMENT?
Ready for the real world
Helping students graduate more prepared for college and careers
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 Delaware was involved in creating the Common Core State
Standards.
 Common Core State Standards are benchmarked to the best
international and state standards to ensure that children can
compete with peers across the country and around the world.
 Smarter Assessment will give a sense of student progress toward
that important goal.
 Delaware teachers have been working hard for years to
implement the new standards.
 Together, we can help students meet new standards and, with
significantly improved assessments, help our students get Ready
for the Real World.
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A complete assessment system
Measuring student progress and supporting improvements in learning
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The Library includes more than 2,600
instructional and professional learning resources
developed by teachers for teachers. Spanning
K–12 and aligned to the new standards, the
resources help teachers implement best
practices as recommended by their peers.
Digital
Library
Optional assessments let teachers
check student progress and plan
and improve instruction. Full
Interim Comprehensive
Assessments mirror the year-end
assessment and Interim
Assessment Blocks focus on
smaller sets of related standards.
Smarter Assessment
Smarter
Assessment
Interim
Assessments
Summative
Assessment
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Summative assessments in
English and math for grades 3–8
and 11 help teachers and parents
see how well students are
mastering the new standards and
moving toward college and career
readiness.
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WHAT MAKES SMARTER ASSESSMENT BETTER?
Key improvements over DCAS testing
Requiring students to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills
 Replaces the traditional multiple choice format with more
rigorous and complex questions.
 Requires students to write short answers, explain their thinking,
compose essays and solve problems in very different ways.
 Includes real-life performance tasks, requiring students to apply
knowledge and skills across multiple content standards.
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Key improvements over DCAS testing
Requiring students to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills
FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
 Asks students to read more complex literary and informational texts across all subjects,
not just English.
 Requires using evidence from texts to answer questions, make inferences and present
argumentative essays.
FOR MATHEMATICS
 Requires students to perform more multi-step problems with application to real-world situations.
 Asks students to explain how they achieved their answers.
Key Takeaway
These tests are designed to measure the effects of a strong, rich, engaging, varied curriculum that is
taught effectively.
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Sample ELA question — 5th grade
A student is writing a narrative for his teacher about a family. Read the draft of the story
and complete the task that follows.
One day a farmer decided to buy peaches for his three sons.
He wondered what they had done with their peaches, so the next day he asked,
“Children, what did you do with the peaches I gave you?”
“I planted my peach outside,” said the oldest. “That way a peach tree will grow in our
yard, and then we will have peaches without having to buy them.”
The second said, “I sold my peach so I could get some money to buy something we need.”
The last said, “I ate my peach and half of mom’s.”
The children waited for the farmer to say something. They started to get a little nervous
about what their father was thinking.
In one or two paragraphs, write an ending for the narrative that follows naturally from the
events in the narrative.
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Sample math problem — 4th grade
Scott is reading a book that has
172 pages. Melanie is reading a
book that has three times as
many pages as Scott’s book.
How many pages does
Melanie’s book have? Select all
the equations that represent
this problem.
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Realism and readiness
How will the scores have an impact on students, teachers and schools?
 Because Smarter Assessment measures our new higher standards, we know fewer students will likely
meet grade-level standards in the beginning.
 This is expected and is no reflection on our students’ learning or their instruction.
 Scores from the first year will set a realistic baseline for future performance as students work to meet
the rigorous demands of preparing for college and careers.
 The assessments call for essays and other responses that will be scored by subject matter experts
trained to be objective. The new results will be delivered to families in July, with statewide scores
released in August.
 Teachers are encouraged to take a practice test, available at
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/practice-test.
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Accommodations for special needs
Supporting English language learners and students with disabilities
 Provides resources to address visual, auditory, linguistic and physical access barriers.
 Includes Braille and closed captioning.
 Contains pop-up glossaries in 10 languages and 4 dialects.
 Most complete suite of accessibility tools and accommodation resources ever included
in K–12 assessments.
Key Takeaway
Allows all students, including those with disabilities and English language learners, to demonstrate their
knowledge and skills.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FAQs
Q
What are computer-adaptive assessments?
A
Computer-adaptive testing customizes the test for each child by adjusting the level of difficulty
based on how well the child is answering the questions.
Q
What are performance tasks?
A
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Performance tasks are activities that include questions connected to a single theme or
scenario, requiring students to use a deeper depth of knowledge.
They are meant to measure level of understanding, writing and research skills, and complex
analysis abilities.
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FAQs
Q
How is the test administered and how long does it take?
A
Taken online over the course of several days in 1- to 2-hour sessions, and untimed, allowing
students to take breaks.
Elementary school students
High school students
English Language Arts Assessment
3.5 hours
4 hours
Mathematics Assessment
2.5 hours
3.5 hours
Q
How can teachers help parents understand the anticipated lower scores?
A
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Students are now being assessed by more challenging academic standards.
This is no reflection on their ability or their teacher’s performance.
Scores will rise with more instruction aligned with the standards.
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FAQs
Q
When will the assessments results be delivered?
A
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Q
Isn’t there too much time spent on testing in Delaware?
A
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Q
How can teachers encourage participation from parents who want to opt-out?
A
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Families will receive results – both machine-scored and hand-scored – in July.
Statewide scores will be released in August.
Governor Jack Markell has authorized an “audit” to eliminate unnecessary testing.
The time devoted to Smarter Assessment is less than 1% of school time.
The testing delivers meaningful data on their child’s progress toward college and career readiness.
It provides important information for improving instruction.
Students may earn an early exemption in college from non-credit courses.
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WHAT DOES A TYPICAL SCHOOL PLAN LOOK LIKE?
Sample District/School Communications Plan
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
Promote DelExcels.org on all district/school communications to
provide further information and resources to all audiences
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Present Chief's Presentation to teachers and supporting
school personnel
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Distribute FAQs to teachers
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Distribute newsletter to parents to give specific test information
and suggest ways they can help prepare their children
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Host a Parent's Night to answer questions about the new assessments
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Testing for 3rd – 8th graders
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Testing for 11th graders
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Tweet about Smarter Assessment, including testing dates, resources, tips to prepare, release of
scores and meaning of results
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Post Facebook updates about Smarter Assessment that provide information on testing dates,
resources, tips to prepare, release of scores and meaning of results
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Distribute Parent Mailer regarding score availability and impact
Scores released to families
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Distribute Newsletter to teachers regarding statewide release of scores
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Statewide release of scores
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